A/N: Hey everybody, I finally have an update! I did actually mean to get this up sooner, since I did have a few requests for an update, but between work and family and life and other writing projects, it didn't happen until about the 3 month mark. I will try to get the next one up sooner, as I should have my other writing projects in line enough for more frequent updates on this one!
This chapter is all an Alison POV, and finally finishes out the first movie. It also starts the first of the changes that I'm going to be making here, and I did even add in a little bit from the book when it came to the eagles later. Next chapter will be about Beorn's, and possibly even get to the start of Mirkwood. If not, Mirkwood will be for sure the chapter after that, and there will be some interesting hallucination stuff in that one ;). Hope you all enjoy :). Extra nerd points to anyone who gets the reference in this chapter ;).
Thanks as always to those who have favorited and followed, it means a lot to know you're interested!
Extra special thanks to my awesome reviewers of last chapter: Moira Starsong,who has a much more original Fili/OC story that you should all check out, Guest, exyberrysilver and LuckyMaple. I really love hearing from you all!
PLEASE REVIEW EVERYBODY IF YOU WANT NEW CHAPTERS FASTER, IT DOES REALLY HELP TO KEEP ME ON TRACK!
As always, I don't own the Hobbit, either movie or book, just the rest of this story!
Chapter 9: Flaming Arrows
Alison had been quite good at climbing trees as a child; she'd been one of the best among her several cousins, second only to Lily's younger brother, who'd pretty much been an actual monkey. As it turned out, however, it was much harder to haul her adult ass up a tree than it had been to pull herself up as a child. Fortunately for her, Fili had hauled her up with astonishing ease until she was perched on the same branch as him, dozens of feet above the ground in the gathering gloom of night. Kili had pulled Lily up as well, and they were on the branch just below. Alison glanced around, checking the other two trees nearby, as well as the one they were in, and breathed a sigh of relief when she found everybody, Bilbo included, perched somewhere among the trees. She'd been afraid their presence would bump somebody out, but so far, everything was going okay.
Of course, that didn't do much to ease the instinctive panic and fear she felt at the presence of the wargs, prowling in circles below. So far, they hadn't tried to jump, but she knew they would soon. Ignoring the shaking of her hands and the rapid pounding of her heart, she pulled out one of her daggers and began to cut off a couple of strips of her cloak and tunic. Operation Flaming Arrows, step one, she told herself, trying to stay focused.
"What are you doing?" Fili whispered in her ear, one hand curled around her waist as though to keep her from falling off.
"You'll see," she murmured back, trying to ignore the dwarves shouting amongst each other as she kept cutting strips.
Hearing a change in the shouts, however, she looked down again, her blood freezing as she saw Azog on his white warg, climbing up on top of a boulder, a malevolent grin on his face as he looked up at the trapped dwarves. Fuck, even at this distance he looked huge, she thought as she gripped the dagger tightly in her hand. His pale, scarred skin and the white fur of his warg glowed almost eerily in the gathering darkness, and the bit of light still left glinted off the curved hook on his left arm and the wicked axe in his right hand. She felt Fili's hand tighten on her waist as he drew in a shocked breath, and she looked back briefly, meeting his gaze to try and give him a reassuring smile before turning around again.
"Azog," Thorin growled from the tree next to theirs, his tone vibrating with pure hatred, but none of the astonishment he would have shown otherwise.
Azog leaned forward on his warg, making a show of sniffing the air as he smirked. He said something in Black Speech. The only part that Alison actually understood was "Thorin" and "Thrain" but she remembered enough from the movie's subtitles to know that Azog was taunting Thorin about the smell of fear and how his father had reeked of it. She wondered, though, if Thorin understood; if Azog was taunting him, surely he expected Thorin to know what he was saying, didn't he?
This theory seemed to be confirmed when instead of saying what he was supposed to, Thorin instead snarled, "You will pay, Defiler," and started to . . . climb down the tree?!
"What the fuck is he doing?!" Alison shrieked, lurching forward in shock. Fili pulled her back against him before she fell, even as he shouted, "Uncle, stop!"
The other dwarves added their shouts to Thorin as he kept scrambling down, though no one was close enough to stop him, even as Azog pointed his axe at the rapidly descending dwarf and said something in Black Speech, "That one is mine," Alison thought she remembered, before he raised his weapon in the air and shouted something else, which was probably, "Kill the others!"
Lily looked up at Alison, her eyes wide in shock. "He's not supposed to do this! It's too soon!"
"I know!" Fucking Thorin, he would have to ruin everything. All right, she'd just have to try to speed up her plan, then. Very quickly, if the wargs racing towards the tree and launching themselves up at the dwarves was any indication. "Get your arrows ready, both of you," she ordered the two below. "We're going to tie these strips of cloth around them. Gandalf, we need fire to light the arrows! Actually, you might have to – shit!"
She noticed two things in that moment. One: Thorin had already reached the ground, heading towards Azog, who was moving to meet him with a wide grin. Two: Their tree was already starting to tip from the weight and force of the jumping wargs hitting it. "Hold that thought, Gandalf! And don't you dare drop your bows, either of you!"
Kili nodded, tucking his arrow back in his quiver and wrapping his bow around himself, Lily doing the same as the tree started to tip. Alison let Fili pull her close as the tree started to fall rapidly, careening towards the next one, because she highly doubted she'd be successful at jumping to the next tree, and could only hope that Fili could get her there.
Fortunately, it seemed that he could; whispering, "Hold on," in her ear and wrapping one arm tightly around her waist, he leapt with almost insulting ease to the next tree as theirs fell, catching Dwalin's arm with his free hand as the older dwarf pulled them both onto his branch. But before Alison could even catch her breath and renew her plan, that tree was falling also, forcing them to jump again, until they were all finally in the tree at the very edge of the cliff, where Gandalf was.
Fili set her back down on the branch, though he kept a hand on her waist as she made sure she still had the strips of cloth. She looked down below, to see that Thorin and Azog were currently locked in fierce battle. Azog was not, however, on his warg anymore; she cast a quick glance around, noting that the warg lay on the ground, legs bleeding, and realized with a bit of relief that Thorin had taken her advice about cutting the warg out from under Azog. And for the moment, Thorin seemed to be holding his own against Azog; he was dancing around the large Orc, using his oaken branch to shield himself from glancing blows of Azog's axe as he appeared to be trying to get behind the Orc to cut at his hamstrings. However, Azog was strong, fast, and skilled, and so far, Thorin hadn't managed the feat. Not to mention, Alison didn't think that the other Orcs would obey Azog's earlier command to leave Thorin to him indefinitely. And they wouldn't have much time before this tree started to fall, too.
She looked up at the Wizard perched above her. "Gandalf, we need fire! Light some pinecones on fire; the others can throw them, but we need those two to light their arrows with them." Gandalf nodded, looking at her with both curiosity and a little amusement as he picked up a pinecone, beginning to blow on it and produce a small flame. She leaned over on the branch, Fili holding on tightly to her waist to keep her from falling as she handed the strips of cloth she'd managed to prepare down to Lily.
Gandalf flung the first flaming pinecone down at the gathering wargs below, causing them to back up and some of the dry brush on the ground to light on fire as Lily handed a few strips of cloth to Kili before she began to wrap the tip of one of her arrows with the cloth, Kili following suit. Fili sucked in a sudden breath of understanding from behind Alison. "Amrâlimê, you're brilliant!"
"Thank you," she murmured, hoping that he was right and this was actually going to work. That was when she heard an outraged roar from below. She quickly looked down beyond the flames and other wargs on the ground, to see that Azog was on one knee, blood blooming brightly along the back of his leg. Thorin had succeeded in the hamstring move, but as he was whirling around to the front of Azog, probably going for the femoral artery she'd told him about, Azog slashed with his axe, sending Thorin spinning back and clutching at his chest, falling to the ground a few feet away. "Fuck! Arrows, now!"
Gandalf had already dropped a pinecone down to Fili while Alison had been distracted by the unfolding scene below; he'd helped Bilbo on the other side of him light another, leaving the hobbit to fling that one down while Fili had dropped his to Kili. Kili bounced his around from hand to hand, pausing briefly to let Lily light first one arrow, then another, Lily carefully gripping both of them before Kili threw the pinecone below. Kili then took one arrow from Lily, fitting it to his bow while she went to draw the other one.
"Kee, Uncle is in trouble!" Fili shouted from behind Alison as the two archers took aim.
Alison looked below again, to see that Thorin was struggling to his knees, looking badly wounded from the slash, while Azog was pulling himself along the ground using his good leg and clawed hand. Meanwhile, another Orc riding a Warg was closing in on Thorin from behind, obviously deciding it was time to intervene. "Thorin, no!" Dwalin bellowed from further down the tree, the other dwarves taking up the cry. Fuck, had they just managed to make things worse for Thorin? Was he actually going to die right here and now, when he wasn't supposed to? Alison wondered, panicked.
Azog had reached Thorin by now, and though they fought briefly, Thorin having managed to get to his feet, he was obviously still weak, and Azog managed to strike him in the face with his clawed hand, sending Thorin tumbling back to the ground. Just as Azog raised his axe, though, a flaming arrow struck him full in the chest, sending the Orc backwards to the ground, bellowing in rage. A second arrow, fired from Lily's bow, hit the warg behind Thorin, and though it had missed the Orc, the warg screeched and went running in terror as flames consumed its fur, taking the Orc on its back with it. One more flaming arrow, fired by Kili, judging by the accuracy, hit Azog's thigh, catching the loincloth he wore on fire, just as their tree started to tip once more.
"Everybody, hang on to something!" Alison yelled, wrapping herself around the branch as the tree started going over the side of the cliff. She clung to the branch with all her strength, praying she wouldn't fall or the tree wouldn't pull free of the cliff altogether with its added weight, and breathed a sigh of relief when the tree finally stopped, the last few roots keeping it level with the cliff for the moment.
This, however, left her dangling in the air, arms wrapped tightly around the branch she'd been on with Fili, which was unfortunately just beyond the cliff's edge. She could hear Dori, to her right, shouting for Gandalf, and knew that he and Ori were just barely holding on to Gandalf's staff. She wasn't exactly sure how much longer she could hold on, either, to be honest.
"Ali, grab my hand!"
She looked up tentatively, to see Fili crouched on top of the tree's trunk, reaching out for her. He'd been closer to the trunk, and had obviously managed to pull himself up onto the trunk once it was the more stable surface. Kili, further down the tree, was pulling Lily up as well, and Alison could see Bilbo, even further down, running along the trunk through the flames. He must be going to help Thorin, she thought dazedly, hoping that they hadn't managed to get Thorin killed with their interference. He could be getting eaten by wargs right now, for all she knew.
"Ali!" Fili shouted again, breaking through her dazed thoughts. He looked frantic, she realized, and he was clearly leaning out as far from the trunk as he dared to without falling himself. She wasn't entirely sure, however, that she had the strength to pull herself up further, or the courage to let go of the branch with one hand to grab his. But if she didn't . . .
She shook her head, feeling terrified. "Fili, I'm not sure –"
"Amrâlimê, please. I need you to trust me. You can do this, and I will not let you fall." His tone was desperate, pleading, those blue eyes boring into hers, and she realized with a little start that she did trust him. She knew he wouldn't let her fall if he could help it, and if she didn't do something soon, she'd fall anyway.
Come on, you can do this. Get your ass moving, tree climber! With a desperate push, trying to channel her childhood self, she shoved up, freeing her right hand and straining to reach Fili's. For one heart-stopping second, she thought she was going to miss, but Fili was suddenly leaning a little further out, Kili holding onto his belt, and Fili's hand closed around her arm tightly, stopping her fall with an abrupt jerk.
She dangled there in space for a moment, panicking, feeling the bruising grip of Fili's hand on her arm before the brothers managed to get both her and Fili back up onto the trunk without either of them falling. The three of them crouched on the trunk for only a few seconds, catching their breath, before Lily called from further down, "We have to go! Bilbo and Dwalin need help!"
Fili hadn't let go of Alison's arm, even after they were on the tree, and he pulled her along now as the three of them hurried along the top of the trunk, not letting go until they were on solid ground again. Alison drew her sword as soon as he did, Kili and Fili readying their weapons as well, breaking into a sprint, and she made out through the flames ahead that Bilbo and Dwalin were standing guard over Thorin's prone form. Dwalin was fighting off a large Orc, another one coming up quickly behind him, and Bilbo was holding out Sting in his shaking hands, waving it frantically at an Orc that was stalking slowly closer to him like a cat playing with its food.
An arrow suddenly struck that Orc in the back of his thigh, causing him to stop and snarl, turning to look at the advancing dwarves. Alison grinned shakily at Lily, who'd just fired the arrow, giving Fili and Kili enough time to reach the two Orcs. Kili slammed into the one stalking Bilbo, while Fili tackled the one behind Dwalin, the two brothers rolling over on the ground with the Orcs. "Good job, Lil," Alison murmured as they hurried forward to join the others, dodging around flames.
"I was aiming for his chest," Lily grumbled. "But I guess that works."
"It does," Alison agreed. "Is Azog dead?"
"Looks like it." Lily nodded off to their right, where the firelight gleamed off a white body laying on the ground.
Alison frowned doubtfully, deciding that they couldn't take any chances, especially as they may have gotten Thorin killed prematurely over this. "You know what, let's make sure."
"Are you crazy?" Lily hissed, but she followed Alison willingly enough, changing direction to head over to the Orc's prone form.
"Rule #2, remember? Always double-tap," Alison joked, trying to ignore both her lingering fear and her new fear that Azog was not dead yet as she clutched her sword tightly and kept moving.
Lily heaved a long-suffering sigh. "He's not a zombie."
"Yes, but Thorin thought cutting his arm off was the end of it, and obviously it wasn't. I bet Thorin wishes he had double-tapped," Alison pointed out as they approached the Orc's body.
"I guess you're right," Lily admitted.
They stopped next to the body. Azog certainly looked dead, laying there flat on his back, the two arrows surrounded by blood and burnt flesh, more blood pooled around the wound Thorin had left on his thigh. But still, best to make sure, Alison reminded herself. Those Orcs who hadn't fled because of the flames and Azog going down were even now being scooped up by the eagles Gandalf had called, but some would escape, and she couldn't have them coming back and finding an unconscious but alive Azog to save.
"Arrow at the ready?" she asked, just in case, and Lily nodded, standing grimly nearby with an arrow nocked and pointed at Azog.
She edged closer to Azog, nudging his side with her foot. When nothing happened, she moved closer, and with a fatalistic shrug, she drew her sword deeply over the Orc's exposed throat. Though some blood welled up from the wound, it wasn't the spurting amount she'd expect from someone still alive. She sawed down a little more than was probably necessary, just to be sure. She had just finished wiping her sword off on her cloak with a grimace and sheathing it, when she heard the very close-by cry of an eagle. Oh shit. She looked up just in time to see an enormous eagle swoop down and grab her in its talons, flying away from the burning cliff.
She'd expected it to hurt, but the eagle had managed to pick her up without actually digging its talons in, and almost immediately dropped her once they were clear of the cliff. She couldn't keep from screaming, half in fright, half in exhilaration, as she fell through the air and landed with a thud on the immensely broad back of another eagle. Only a few seconds later, Lily landed next to her, fortunately still with her bow and arrows, having apparently managed to wrap her bow around her before the eagle grabbed her.
Now that they were relatively safe, Alison checked her cousin over with a critical eye, as much as she could in the darkness, anyway. "Are you okay?"
Lily smiled, though she looked exhausted, her face drawn and pale. "I'm fine. Maybe a little bruised and sore, like everybody, I'm sure, but I got lucky. Since someone covered up for me in Goblintown, which was an idiot move, by the way – "
"You're welcome," Alison interrupted dryly, shoving down the fear the memory brought to mind as Lily continued as though she hadn't heard her, "nothing really happened to me there. And Kili, well, he kept looking after me." Alison noticed her cousin was turning red at this, but she continued on, "And in the last tree, we were on the part that was still on the cliff, so I was okay there. You're the one that almost fell off a cliff, so are you okay?"
"Other than the mild heart attack from the almost falling? Yeah, I'm fine," Alison replied lightly. She didn't have any serious injuries, though as Lily said, she was bruised and sore, but she imagined that was true of everybody. And she was determined to control the terror that had run through her at her recent near-death experiences. She had more important things to worry about, such as whether they'd truly fucked things up and gotten Thorin killed early, or if one of the others had been harmed.
With that in mind, she looked around at the nearby eagles, squinting to try to make out who was on them. It was really too dark to still see, since clouds covered the moon and most of the stars. She thought she could make out Fili's golden hair on an eagle off to their left, but she couldn't be sure; it was too far and everything was too dark. Nor could she see which eagle had Thorin, or any of the others.
She turned to Lily. "Do you know if everybody else is okay?"
Lily shrugged helplessly, looking as worried as she felt. "I don't know. Everything happened so fast, I couldn't tell."
"Lily . . . what if Thorin's dead? I mean, it seems we managed to help them kill Azog, but not before he bashed up Thorin. What if he's hurt worse than he was supposed to have been, and Gandalf can't heal him? What happens to the quest then?" Alison couldn't help but let all of her fears tumble out, now that she had nothing to do but think about what had just happened.
Lily shook her head. "I . . . I don't know. I feel like this is my fault. If I hadn't told Thorin Azog was still alive and that he was supposed to confront him, he would have been shocked to see him, instead of pissed. If I hadn't told him, he wouldn't have jumped out of the tree early like that. We would've been able to take out Azog with the arrows before Thorin even got to fight him."
Alison wrapped a reassuring arm around her. "It's not your fault. How were you supposed to know how he'd react? If anything, it's my fault for giving him pointers on fighting Azog. He was probably eager to give it a try as soon as he saw him."
Lily gave her a wry look, though she returned the embrace. "If I don't get to blame myself, you don't either. I mean, without those pointers, he wouldn't have laid a scratch on Azog. He would've just got knocked around by the warg, and since he jumped out early, he might have been double-tapped himself before anyone had a chance to come help him."
"I suppose you might be right," Alison allowed. "Still, what if – "
"We just have to wait and see what happens," Lily said softly, interrupting her. "Thorin's tough; we'll just have to hope he's okay. And we should try to get some sleep; I think it might be a while."
"Yeah, I guess." Alison didn't think she'd be able to sleep at all, no matter how dark it was or how exhausted she was; she was flying on the back of an eagle, after all, and torn up with worry. Still, she stretched out on the surprisingly soft back of the eagle to try, along with Lily.
Apparently, she had managed to doze fitfully, for she was jerked back to awareness by someone screaming, "Uncle Thorin!"
She sat up like a shot on the back of the eagle, Lily lurching up next to her, realizing that it was now bright out enough to see, the sun rising above the horizon and spilling light everywhere. She could now see Thorin dangling limply in an eagle's talons a couple hundred yards ahead of them, with no sign that he was alive. Fili had been the one that shouted, she realized, seeing that he was indeed on the eagle flying to their left, along with Kili. The brothers were up on their knees, leaning urgently forward as Kili shouted for his uncle as well, their eyes fixed on his limp form. Thorin didn't stir in the slightest at the sound of their voices, however.
Fuck. Fuck, we might really have made things worse. Alison tried to reassure herself that it didn't mean anything; if she remembered correctly, he didn't stir at their shouts in the story, either. So he could still be within Gandalf's power to save. He just had to be. "Fili!" she yelled before she could stop herself, unable to watch him in such pain without trying to do something about it. "He'll be okay!"
Both brothers whipped around at her shout, focusing their attention on her and Lily instead. "Are you sure?" Fili called back. "Lily, have you seen it?" Kili added, his tone as equally desperate as his brother's.
Alison had opened her mouth, trying to decide if she should continue to lie her ass off to make them feel better, but Lily beat her to it. "He's going to be okay, don't worry!"
Alison cast a quick and doubtful glance at her cousin. "Maybe if I say it, it will be true," Lily muttered, looking guilty.
"Let's hope so."
"Thank Mahal," Alison thought she heard Fili mutter, before he called across again, "Are the two of you all right?"
"We're fine!" Alison shouted to him, seeing what she thought was a relieved smile on Fili's face in response, though it was hard to tell from this distance. The brothers turned their attention back to their uncle, watching attentively for any sign of movement, and Alison wished she could be closer to reassure Fili properly. She had an overwhelming urge to hold him and comfort him through his obvious distress. It was only because they were friends, she told herself. She'd want to comfort any friend who was in danger of losing their uncle and father figure.
Before she could examine that thought too closely, she saw that the eagles were nearly at the Carrock. Thorin's eagle reached it first, gently laying Thorin down on the flat top, and one by one, the other eagles swarmed down, letting everyone off. Gandalf was one of the first to be set down, and he rushed right to Thorin, shouting his name and crouching down next to him.
Alison couldn't see what happened immediately after that, since she had to scramble down from her own eagle along with Lily. Her heart was in her throat as she did so, and she was praying to any god who'd listen that Thorin was still alive. As soon as her eagle flew off, she hurried closer, noticing that Gandalf was leaning over Thorin, eyes closed, whispering something intently, his hand hovering in the air above Thorin's body.
The others were all gathering around, watching the scene before them with bated breath, tense and worried at the sight of their fallen King. Alison couldn't help herself as she saw Fili and the desperate worry on his face; she went to him and slipped an arm around his waist in silent comfort. He wrapped an arm around her in turn, crushing her to him with a distressed noise, pressing his lips to her hair, but he didn't take his eyes off his uncle. Nor did Kili, Alison noticed, even though Lily had taken his hand in hers, squeezing it. He did, however, squeeze her hand back.
Nothing seemed to be happening as Gandalf continued his whispered chant, though; surely it hadn't taken this long in the movie? How long was this supposed to take? Alison was suddenly certain they had truly managed to fuck everything up, even if they had succeeded in killing Azog, when Thorin let out a gasping breath, raising his head up slightly from the ground. Gandalf let out a sigh of relief, along with everybody else, as he leaned back.
"The Halfling?" Thorin whispered, so faint Alison almost couldn't make it out, and she realized that he must have still seen Bilbo come to his aid before he'd passed out. Good. That was one thing she didn't want to mess with.
Gandalf smiled at the question, reassuring Thorin, "It's all right. Bilbo is here. He's quite safe."
Alison noted that Bilbo looked relieved as well, smiling from his position a few feet away from Thorin as the dwarven king struggled to get to his feet. Fili let go of Alison to move to his aid, but Kili and Dwalin got there first, helping Thorin to his feet, one on either side.
Thorin, however, shrugged off their supporting arms almost immediately, staring intently at Bilbo as he snapped, "You!"
Bilbo's look of relief morphed into confusion and apprehension as Thorin growled, "What were you doing? You nearly got yourself killed!"
Most of the dwarves looked confused, too, Alison saw, obviously wondering why Thorin was upset as he advanced on Bilbo, though she was just relieved he was on his feet and not dead as the dwarven king snapped, "Did I not say that you would be a burden? That you would not survive in the Wild? That you had no place amongst us?"
Bilbo looked down at that, clearly upset as Thorin was listing off every insult he'd previously hurled at the poor hobbit. Alison stifled a smile as Bilbo's head snapped up in astonishment at Thorin's next words. "I have never been so wrong in all my life."
At that, Thorin hugged Bilbo tightly as the other dwarves all cheered and laughed. Alison could no longer stifle her own laugh at the look of sheer astonishment on Bilbo's face, before he tentatively returned Thorin's embrace.
"The epic bromance begins," Alison murmured to Lily, where they stood off to the side a little, watching the reunion.
"Who says it's just a bromance?" Lily countered with a grin.
"Good point," Alison allowed as Thorin leaned back from the embrace, looking as though he was studying Bilbo for wounds. "He did seem really worried about Bilbo there."
"Yes, he certainly did," Lily said, grinning at her broadly with raised eyebrows that made Alison wonder just what her cousin was getting at as Thorin said sincerely to Bilbo, "I am sorry I doubted you."
Bilbo shook his head at that. "No, I would have doubted me too. I'm not a hero, or a warrior." The hobbit cast a wry look at Gandalf. "Not even a burglar." Thorin smiled at that, about to say something when the eagles suddenly winged past them, flying off in the opposite direction from where they'd come.
All of the dwarves, Alison noted, were staring now, as Thorin slowly started to walk forward to the edge of the rock, gazing off into the distance.
"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked, as everyone moved to join Thorin, even Alison and Lily.
Gandalf nodded as he gestured at the solitary peak, far off in the distance, just barely visible against the riot of pinks and oranges in the sky from the rising sun. There were miles and miles of forests and rolling hills and fields between them and the mountain, and Alison sighed, wishing briefly for her car.
"Our home," Thorin added in awe, and Alison smiled as she saw a look of awe reflected on all the faces of the dwarves. She much preferred that look on Fili's face, she decided, to the one of worried desperation when he'd thought Thorin was dying.
A bird chirped nearby, causing Oin to cry, "A raven!" Alison looked up with the others to see a small, dark bird flying after the eagles. "The birds are returning to the mountain," Oin added.
"That, my dear Oin, is a thrush," Gandalf corrected.
"But we'll take it as a sign," Thorin said softly. "A good omen." He looked down at Bilbo, standing next to him, and smiled.
Bilbo nodded to him. "You're right. I do believe the worst is behind us."
Bilbo, you poor, naive bastard. Alison only wished she could believe that; maybe ignorance was bliss, after all. Still, now that she knew Thorin hadn't suffered an early death, she could be happier about the successful death of Azog. If they only had Bolg to worry about now, maybe they had a better chance of saving everyone. She and Lily were just going to have to be more careful in how they changed things, so that they didn't risk anyone dying prematurely again.
"Well," Gandalf said briskly, shaking her out of her thoughts as he clapped his hands together, "perhaps we should take this opportunity for a brief rest. The Orcs should take some time to catch up to us, especially after the defeat of their leader, and I believe everyone is quite weary and could use a proper rest. You in particular, Thorin."
Thorin turned from staring at the mountain, beginning to move slowly back to the center of the rock as he asked, "Are we certain that Azog is dead this time?"
"Very certain," Lily reassured him, and Thorin took a long breath at that, nodding to her in gratitude. Alison wanted to bring up the fact that Azog had a son who was very much not dead, but decided to keep her mouth shut for now; they'd all been through enough lately.
"Then, perhaps that is best," Thorin said, turning to the others. "If Azog no longer pursues us, we can remain here to rest and recover for the remainder of the day, and set off in the morning. It should be safe enough up here for now."
"We don't have any food," Bombur said mournfully, and the others all grumbled in agreement, Alison wishing she'd thought to at least stash a little food in her pockets, instead of just worrying about the bows.
"Not to worry," Gandalf assured him, "that will be remedied shortly."
As if in answer to Gandalf, a few of the eagles came whirling back, bringing rabbits, hares, and even a small sheep with them, along with a few boughs for firewood. Several of the dwarves hurried into action, setting up a decently large firepit in the midst of their rock, and Gandalf used his magic once more to start it going, since everyone had apparently left behind all their flintboxes too. While Bombur, Lily, and some of the others started skinning and preparing the meat, Oin sat Thorin down to look at his wounds, since Gandalf's magic hadn't completely cured them. Fortunately, Oin had managed to hold onto his bag of herbs and salves through everything, which Alison found pretty damn impressive.
While Oin worked on Thorin, who was obviously the most injured, she borrowed some of Oin's meds and went about checking all of the others for wounds. Most of them only had minor scrapes and cuts, and stubbornly refused help of any kind. Dwalin had a pretty decent wound on his arm that she finally managed to talk him into letting her bandage up, and once she found out that Kili's palms were burned from the pinecone, she treated them with salve and bandaged them too before she tracked down Fili, who had sat down off to the side, polishing and sharpening everyone's blades.
"Fili, let me see your hands," she said, stopping in front of him with her bandages and salves in hand.
He looked up at her and smiled warmly before returning his attention to the blade he was currently working on. "My hands are fine, Ali."
"Then you won't mind if I look at them," she retorted, noticing that he was careful to keep his palms turned away as he worked. When he didn't answer immediately, she sighed. What was with stubborn-ass men refusing medical treatment, anyway? "Come on, Fili. I know your palms are burnt, since Kili's were. Let me see them."
He jerked to attention at the sound of his brother's name. "Kili's hurt?" He started to get to his feet, but Alison planted a hand on his chest and gently pushed him back down. "He'll be fine; he had some burns on his palms that I've already treated. He let me look at his hands." She lowered her voice when Fili simply stared stubbornly up at her. "And if you want to have sex again anytime soon, you'll let me look at yours."
To her vast amusement, he actually flushed at that before he laughed softly. "Ah, lass, I suppose I should no longer be surprised at your bluntness. Very well then, it seems I have little choice." He laid down the blade and whetstone, one of the few other things the dwarves had managed to hang onto, and turned his palms up for her to see.
As she'd thought, they were covered with blistered burns. She shook her head as she sat down next to him, opening up a jar of salve before she pulled one of his hands into her lap and set to work. "Honestly, Fili, why in the hell were you being so stubborn about this? Were you really not going to let me treat your hands?"
He was quiet for a long moment, causing her to look up. He was gazing thoughtfully down at her, as though trying to decide the best way to answer. "I . . . was going to wait for Oin to look at them."
She scowled at him. "So you don't trust me to do it?"
He shook his head, looking surprised. "No, of course not, Ali, that's not what I meant. I just didn't want to worry you. You've been through a lot since we left Rivendell, and I have failed to keep you safe so many times that I did not wish to add to your burdens." He trailed the hand she wasn't working on lightly over her arm, bare where she'd pushed her sleeve up to work. "In fact, it seems I have even injured you more than once."
What in the hell is he talking about? She glanced down at the arm in question, surprised when she saw a purple hand-shaped bruise there that she hadn't noticed previously. Oh. She blew out an exasperated breath. "Fili, don't be ridiculous. I have a bruise there because you saved my life. Believe me, I'd much rather a bruised arm than falling to my death. Or a banged head, which I'm pretty sure I already told you to stop feeling guilty over. Considering I'm perfectly alive right now, I'd say you've done a great job of keeping me safe. Not," she added sternly, "that I asked you to. In fact, I think I asked the opposite, for you not to put yourself in danger trying to protect me. Which you did." If he'd fallen to his death trying to pull her up – but no. She couldn't think about that, or how it made her chest feel tight to even consider it. "But thank you. I do appreciate it. Which is why you should let me do my meagre best to keep you safe."
"All right, lass," he said softly. "If it pleases you, I'll let you treat any injuries I may get." Almost as if he couldn't help himself, he added, "But it is just a minor burn. I would have been fine."
She grunted in annoyance as she bandaged his hand and moved to the next one. "I'm sure you would have. You have such a thick head, I'm sure you have the skin to match."
He laughed at that. "Aye, I do. But what about you?" He lightly touched the bruise again, making her shiver as she suddenly remembered how long it had been since he'd touched her bare skin like that. "Does this hurt?"
She looked up at him, noticing the guilty look stamped all over his face again. She sighed. "Honestly, Fili, it's just a bruise. It's far from the first time I've been bruised, and I really don't mind. If it's to save my life, feel free to injure me as much as you like. Without this bruise, I could be lying at the bottom of a cliff –"
He cut her off by lifting her chin up with his free hand while he claimed her mouth with his. It was a hard, desperate, bruising kiss that set fire to her body almost instantly. What surprised her even more than the kiss was the answering desperate passion she felt in response. Yes, she'd nearly died and now Fili was making her feel alive in the most basic of ways, and she was more than willing to return the favour. She climbed into his lap, pressing herself to him, letting the heat and welcoming strength of his body whip her passion higher, chasing away the fear that she'd pushed down deep. His arms clamped tightly around her, as though he were determined to keep her there as he took the kiss ever deeper.
"Fee. Fee!" An urgent hiss, followed by what sounded like a dull thud that rocked Fili forward, and Alison with him, caused them to jerk apart. Alison sucked in a deep breath as she looked up at Kili, who had clearly just whacked Fili in the back to gain their attention. Kili had the familiar shit-eating grin on his face as he looked down at them. "While I sympathize, brother, you might want to wait to do that," he murmured slyly. "For, say, night-time. Or somewhere a little more private."
Alison climbed carefully off Fili's lap, noticing how red he was turning as he nodded stiffly at his brother. It was just adorable how embarrassed he got by a little PDA. She glanced over her shoulder a little at the others behind them; most of them were busy talking to one another or preparing the food, and didn't seem to have noticed. Other than Bofur and Nori, who smirked at them, Nori throwing in a broad wink before they both turned their attention back to their respective tasks. Kili walked back over to the others, whistling softly as he went.
Taking a deep breath and trying to ignore the throbbing in her body, Alison picked up Fili's still unbandaged hand, returning to her work. Fili cleared his throat after a moment, murmuring softly, "That was the other reason I thought I should wait for Oin instead."
She grinned up at him, noticing that the red was only very slowly fading from his cheeks. "Oh, and what reason is that?" she asked airily.
He gave her a wry, 'as-if-you-don't-know' look. "After everything that has happened, all the danger we've been in, I thought I might have difficulty controlling myself around you. It seems I was right." He took a deep breath, fixing her with an intense look that made her vaguely uncomfortable, though she couldn't seem to look away. "Please, Ali, don't say that again. About . . . what might have happened. I don't – I can't stand to think of it."
She felt a sudden warmth blossoming through her chest at his fervent words, and couldn't meet his eyes any longer. She dropped her eyes back to his hand, starting to bandage it up, and nodded. She didn't want to think about it either, not what could have happened to her, and definitely not what could have happened to him or to Thorin or anyone else. Finishing up the bandage on his hand, she cast about for a change of subject. "I'm glad your uncle is all right. And like Lily said, Azog is definitely dead, this time. I made sure, before the eagles came."
"You what?!" he snapped, and she looked up to find his eyes blazing. "Do you know how dangerous – "
"Yes," she interrupted him, squeezing his hand lightly, "I do. But he was dead when we found him; I just wanted to make sure. Lily was pointing an arrow at him the whole time, just in case. I told you, I want to keep all of you safe, too."
He blew out a breath, squeezing her hand back as he visibly struggled to rein in his anger. "I know. Just . . . next time, if you're going to do something like that, bring me with you."
"You were rather busy at the time, being in more danger than I was," she pointed out.
He smiled at that, the anger fading more. "I suppose I was. But still . . ."
"If I ever go to check an Orc's body again, I'll bring you along," she promised with a sigh. It wasn't a difficult thing to promise, since she probably wouldn't ever have to do that again.
He nodded. "Good. I meant to thank you, as well. Your idea for the arrows – it saved Uncle's life. I owe you more than I can ever repay for that."
"Oh." She rubbed the back of her neck, vastly uncomfortable with the praise, since she was pretty sure she'd nearly gotten Thorin killed, too. "It was just an idea. I didn't even fire the arrows. But, you're welcome. And you don't owe me a damn thing," she added. "I believe I already pointed out that you've saved my life more than once."
He gave her a serious look. "Your life would not have been in danger if you weren't helping us."
She groaned, tossing her hands up. "Seriously, Fili, you have to stop with that guilt thing. I knew what I was getting into when I agreed to come along, and I don't want anyone feeling responsible for my safety. And I'm going to get seriously angry at you if you don't stop trying to take the blame, okay?"
He met her glare for a long moment, still with that serious look, until she crossed her arms and scowled blackly at him, moving to get up. His face eased into a smile at that, and he grabbed her arm, pulling her back down. "All right, Ali. I cannot make any promises, but I will try not to feel guilt for the danger you are in. As long as you promise not to be overly reckless. Does that sound fair?"
She nodded. "That's fair." Definitions of overly reckless could differ, after all.
"Now," he went on, his eyes taking on that familiar teasing light that she realized she'd really missed over the last several days, "do I have my healer's permission to continue sharpening weapons, or am I to be forced to rest now?"
She made a show of thinking of about it, stroking her chin thoughtfully. "Well, if we weren't on top of this stupid rock with everybody else," she told him in a low voice, "I'd be suggesting some private care with your healer, followed by some rest." He gave a soft groan at that, his eyes blazing at her as she continued more briskly, "But, unfortunately, we can't do that, so I suppose you can keep sharpening. I can help, if you show me how."
"I only have one whetstone," he told her, "but you can observe for now, and practice with it later." She nodded, sitting down next to him as he picked up the sword and whetstone again, showing her the angle and how best to sharpen it.
"That was unfair," he added softly a moment later, as she continued to watch him. "Making such a suggestion when you know I cannot do anything about it."
She gave him an unrepentant grin and a shrug. "I know. It was unfair to kiss me like that and then stop. I really didn't want to stop."
"Mahal," he growled under his breath. "You know we cannot do that up here, with the others all watching."
She sighed and nodded. Sadly that was true; making out with him a little was one thing, but even she wasn't that much of an exhibitionist, no matter how hot and bothered he'd gotten her. Although . . . "That was why I was hoping we could pick that up later, when we get to the bottom. Find somewhere private, just for a few minutes, since the Orcs should be far behind? I can promise it won't take long." And she wasn't sure she could wait until Beorn's, especially as she had no idea how long it would take to get there from here.
He swallowed rather convulsively, focusing hard on the blade rather than meeting her eyes. "Aye, I'm sure it won't," he muttered, making her lips twitch. It was very gratifying to know that he was as clearly close to exploding as she was. "I . . . will have to consider it. If there is a way I can make it safe."
"I look forward to finding out." She smiled, watching as his face started to burn red again, though he cast her a look of heated promise that made her hope the next few days would be far more enjoyable than the last few had been. Because really, they all deserved a break.